The Square (2008)

One should always be aware of the Law of Unintended Consequences when they set out to commit a crime. You may have to live with more than you bargained for.

Lovers of Double Indemnity will find the story familiar. Raymond (David Roberts) and his lover Carla (Claire van der Boom) plan to steal money and leave their partners. Things, of course, do not go smoothly.

There are twists and turns aplenty in the noir film, and it keeps you wondering who is going to come up with the next one.

Roberts was excellent and the film was extremely well done.

One hopes Joel Edgerton writes more like this.

Fmovies: With cheap Christmas stuff coiled around most of it's Aussie edges, "The Square" was suspenseful and fun to watch. The stupidity of the main characters, like most film noir, set-up a nasty sequence of events that become complicated by twisted motives and coincidental plot developments. Our main character, Ray Yale, is as pathetic as his mistress, Carla Smith, is desperate, and we know that they're both going to suffer some heavy consequences for their selfishness. Still, we hardly imagine that so much is going to go so brilliantly wrong.

The director, Nash Edgerton, must have enjoyed playing with all the production values of "The Square" as much as his brother, Joel, enjoyed writing the story upon which the screenplay evolved. I mean, really, can anyone think of a better name for a contemporary interpreter of the genre than a chap named Nash Edgerton? Not only did we get the usual dark images and sweaty brows, but Edgerton was also able to provide a shaggy dog and a baby, too! "The Square" is a film that should entertain most people who enjoy the film noir genre.

It is funny that the Edgerton brothers collaborated on this film since it reminds me a great deal of another movie crafted by two brothers. If you have ever seen Blood Simple, a Coen brothers production, this movie will remind you of it. Two lovers hatch a simple plot to steal money and run away together, but are thwarted by unforeseen circumstances, blackmail, misdirection and unforeseen deceit.

The acting in this film is superb, starting with the leads and certainly Joel Edgerton who does a 180 from his character in Kinky Boots.

I highly recommend this movie. Although the plot is familiar it does have a neat twist at the end that was hard to see coming.

The Square fmovies. As one of those who saw the premiere of this film at the Sydney Film Festival, I can assure you if I was on the "edgerton" of my seat, it was in disbelief as implausibility piled upon implausibility until the film collapsed under their weight.

The film started well, and for a while I was happy to go along with the well-worn Noir formula of the small crime that goes wrong, and all attempts to cover it up only make things worse for the illicit lovers, and the crimes get bigger and bigger. But they also get stupider and stupider, until you just feel your intelligence is being insulted. If, as bilingizard seems to be suggesting, black humour of the order of the Coen Brothers was being attempted, then I suggest some wit (other than that involving the fate of the dogs) should have been attempted. Nor do I think David Roberts was an acceptable lead. The character was dour and unpleasant from the beginning (making it hard to care what happened to him and his paramour) and the performance added no light or shade or leavenings of humanity.

I agree it looks good, and the direction is stylish. But the plot is not just full of holes, but sinkholes that suddenly open up under the feet of the characters, and the audience.

A bag of money, an illicit affair, and a decision that has disastrous effects plunge our protagonist into a downward spiral with more plot twists than a corkscrew. Written by actor Joel Edgerton (with co-writer Matthew Dabney) and directed by brother Nash this enthralling thriller had the audience at its 2008 Sydney Film Festival debut on the "edgertons" of their seats.The many surprising turns in the story are made completely plausible by a superb cast lead by David Roberts and including the actor brother. And check out the parallel relationship between the lovers' dogs and its surprising denouement! A very impressive first feature from a director whose short films have been widely acclaimed. If you like the Coen brothers films then THE SQUARE is for you.

What would be a fun find on cable one night isn't worth a trip to the theater. An expertly plotted story (with a particularly clever blackmail subplot) suffers from uninspired casting in the male lead. This actor embodies the film's fatal flaw: an almost total lack of humor.

Film noir is necessarily a downer genre but think how funny Body Heat and Chinatown are with their clever protagonists (and Chandler always has you laughing). The Square, however, features morose David Roberts who should be dancing with joy from his affair with the much younger, cuter, livelier Claire van der Bloom. But he's conflicted from the get-go and the director never lets us see what drew these two together in the first place. There's little chemistry between them and a few scenes between two dogs hold more joy than anything between the impassionate human lovers. The most interesting male actor is co-writer Joel Edgerton and the story might have had more sizzle if he'd been the lead.

But the plot does indeed generate some real tension and the film is watchable. Bodies pile up unexpectedly, there's a mystery inside a mystery with the strong subplot and the ending holds real surprises. The script works but the director, through his casting and tone choices, lets it and us down.